


The Gifts We are Freely Given

by Pyreof_Books



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Andreil Week 2018, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Neil is mouthy, andrew vs want, loose myth base, sorry this is late
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2019-06-04 19:09:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15153719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pyreof_Books/pseuds/Pyreof_Books
Summary: '“What color are your eyes?” Andrew asked, none of his movements pausing, but jarring Neil completely out of his head.'A story in which Andrew is Medusa and Neil tries to give his boy something beautiful.Andreil Week 2018 Day One





	1. A Small Wanting

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this is late! No warnings for this chapter.

Neil belly crawled closer to the edge so his arms could dangle over the rugged rocks with his chin rested on a fairly smooth portion. He breathed in deep, eyes closed, as the smell of the fires from the village wafted up to him. Andrew was sitting, legs over the side, to his left, blindfold secure and his right hand absentmindedly petting Neil’s hair. The air around them was chilled and damp this early in the morning and they were silent in each others company as they waited for Apollo to bring them the warmth of the sun. Andrew had snagged a few blankets before they left the cavern, but he was hogging them. Neil didn’t mind.  
He looked down to the village, watching the fog roll through the agora and curl along tall columns. He couldn’t make out much from this height, but he got the feeling of peace from the scene. Neil hummed under Andrew’s hand, turning on his side so he could look at him instead.  
The black cloth serving as a blindfold nearly covered his nose and eyebrows and wrapped behind his head, carefully threaded through his snakes so they weren’t restrained. They were tan, like sand, and hissing from the cold. The hand that wasn’t tangled in Neil’s soft red curls was flipping a knife, stopping occasionally to tap against the ledge they were trusting their lives with. Andrew found both stability and fear in this mountain, a trait that made Andrew more endearing to Neil, though he would never mention it.  
The oracle, Bee, who travels up here to update Andrew on life below and spend some hours with him, has probably already connected his fear of heights and current living quarters and found it to be mismatched.  
“What color are your eyes?” Andrew asked, none of his movements pausing, but jarring Neil completely out of his head.  
“Blue,” Neil responded, turning his head so Andrews hands fell over the mangled scars by the sides of his eyes.  
Andrew huffed. “I know your eyes are blue, rabbit. I’m asking something more specific.” Andrew pushed his face a little, but it turned into more of a caress.  
“Hmmmmm,” Neil hummed, letting his eyes drift close when his searching fingers traced his face. “I’ve been told they’re like ice. Cold, but deep. Like if you look through them you’d see the darkness of the ocean. The person who told me that was also begging me not to hurt them, after they tried to kill me. They wanted me to seem more like my father; less human.”  
Neil stopped when the hand found his chin so he could nuzzle it and press a kiss to the palm. “Since being here, though, everyone keeps complimenting my eyes. ‘They look more appealing than Aphrodite’s smile, they sparkle when I’m happy, the sky envies the hue’,” Neil parroted into Andrew’s palm. “I always thought they looked lighter than the ocean but darker than the sky. Kinda like right now, right before the sun fully crests.”  
“Close your eyes. Don’t open them until I say to,” Andrew said without prompting, withdrawing his hands and reaching behind him.  
“Okay,” Neil closed his eyes, waiting for Andrew. Neil had been scared his first time up this mountain, following Kevin, Nicky, Aaron, and Andrew, who though wearing his blindfold knew that path better than the others. All along the way were faces in the stone, some taken unaware, others with manic grins and fear in their features. It was a better ward to trespassers than the charm sellers could provide. Andrew claimed to have only added two faced to the procession; one who had been after Kevin, the other an accident. He rarely took the blindfold off now.  
Neil waited for Andrew to do or say something, but all he got was silence. And then “Hmmm. They sky does look pretty right now.” The air moved around them and Neil guessed the blindfold was being returned. The snakes hissed louder.  
“It’s cold,” Neil knew better than to comment about the ‘pretty’ that had made his heart inch towards the cliff edge.  
“You should have brought an extra blanket.”  
“You took mine when we came out here, too!”  
Andrew huffed, throwing the corner of his cocoon over Neil.  
“Can I touch you?” Neil asked, appreciating the warmth of his little cover.  
“What, so you can nuzzle me like a dog?” Andrew huffed again. Another endearing habit that will not be mentioned. “Yes.”  
Neil rolled closer to Andrew and pressed his face against the side of his leg gently, humming a bit.  
“Andrew?”  
“What.”  
“If there was a way to get rid of the curse, would you do it?” Neil asked, peeking up at his expressionless face.  
“There is no way to get rid of it.” Andrew said, without changing his features. Neil knew he was made of stronger stuff than stone, with all the fluidity of the mountain, but he had to imagine something more.  
“But if there was. Yes or no?” Neil bit his lip, and fully rested his head half on his leg.  
Andrew looked down at him, almost like he could find his eyes even with the covering.  
“Yes.”  
In that one word, Neil heard everything unsaid. Yes, I would give up my last line of defense. Yes, I would look at you and see your eyes. Yes, I would like to want that. Yes.  
In all of their kissing and touching, Andrew had been effectively blind. Neil was traumatized by having his head covered enough in his life to make it an immediate NO, so Andrew took the time to trust that Neil would leave his hands in his pockets, above his head against the wall, on Andrew’s shoulders- because Andrew couldn’t check without ripping his hands away from wherever they were unraveling Neil. It was trust that Neil wouldn’t give up for anything, but Andrew asked about his eyes. He wanted, and it was something so small and yet so large that Neil’s heart ached with it.  
They sat there until the sun chased away the fog below and Andrew’s stomach growled fierce enough for Neil to feel it. He made his way down the mountain to pick up some more fruits and sweets and maybe grab some of the books Kevin had been nagging him to study. Andrew went to wash up and wait for Neil to get back to read to him before Renee, Bee, or any of the others came up.  
When Neil returned, they ate, Andrew shoving ridiculous amounts of expensive sugar into his mouth and Neil slurping on peaches. He had also brought a bowl of olives up for Wymack, who would probably try to get Abby to eat some even though she only really liked the oil when cooking.  
Neil read next, first some of the text Kevin found fascinating and determined they needed to study right away, only to switch to telling Andrew stories that were more his taste and putting Neil’s Bard's tongue to use. Around midday, Renee came up with Bee, and Neil eagerly waited out of Andrews reach so he wouldn’t be suspicious. However, Andrew probably noticed anyway. He didn’t comment, though, and requested to spar with Renee first on the lower level of the tunneling cavern before speaking with Bee. Which left Neil alone with her.  
“So, Neil, how are you?” Bee asked, a smile on her face and her body language clearly displaying how open and trustworthy she was.  
“I’m fine,” Damn, Neil’s knee jerk response is still the first thing to come out before a shred of honesty. Not that he wasn’t fine. “I mean, well I have something to ask you, Bee, but I’d rather Andrew not find out until I know for sure.”  
Neil was trying to play nice, here. He really has been getting used to the ever smiling, slightly prophetic woman being around and not causing chaos or fear in his life. Abby had been easier to get used to, considering the first time he met her she stitched up his side, saved him from infection, and didn’t reveal any of his troubling scars or tattoos to the others.  
“Anything you say to me from this point forward will be kept in confidence, Neil,” She said, moving to wrap her hair up with a scarf. She probably planned on cooking a little food for Renee and Andrew for when they were done.  
“Well, I want to find a way to break Andrew’s curse. Specifically, I need to talk to Athena. I know it was meant to be a gift, and despite the… obvious hindrances, I want to help Andrew.” Neil said, bouncing between looking Bee dead in the eyes and down at her hands, constantly checking her body language.  
“Are you sure this is what Andrew wants, though?” Bee smiled kindly, and the unspoken and not what you want was clear as day.  
“It’s not really my place to speak for Andrew, and I won’t share what he may not with you, but if it is possible and he says no, then a no it will be.” A ‘no’ was always a ‘no’.  
****  
When Andrew sparred, he also donned a black hood to completely cover his head; partially to ensure the snakes didn’t bite Renee and also so that if the blindfold came off in the fight, he wouldn’t be able to turn Renee to stone. Nicky always scoffed at the choice, saying that if he must cover his snakes, he might as well use a patterned cloth, or something more colorful. Nicky always left his loose, though he had somehow managed to train them into curling into different fashions. Aaron left his to behave how they wanted, though he was always very tender with them. He would feed them treats sometimes, though it wasn’t strictly necessary. Andrew would too; in secret, of course.  
Blind, Renee was able to sneak up easily on him, but Andrew had learned years ago how to throw off an assailant. Their knives would clash as Andrew felt the wind and tried to predict her movements, and Renee attempted to disarm him with every nasty trick she knew. Her prior life as an assassin was useful here, but if she kept bringing Allison around he may have to stage an ‘accident’ by the cliff edge.  
He had threatened Renee with that several times, but he could feel her smiling at him.  
When their bout finished (Renee threw him into the wall and then the more jagged part of the floor) they went up to have whatever food Bee was making. On the way up, they spoke of possible theories of how to break the dead out of the Underworld, should the need arise.  
When they entered the spacious pocket in the tunnel system, Bee and Neil casually shifted conversations. Andrew knew the topic changed because he could hear the tension (hope?) in his voice down the way, and this was a different tone.  
But if Neil wanted to tell him, he would later. Renee and him took their seats and immediately dug in, Andrew being handed a ladden plate by Neil. He took a bite. Perfection.  
The rest of the day passed smoothly. After Andrew chatted with Bee (she was curious about the idea of him being able to properly see), Neil let Andrew touch him while he studied some supposedly important history with Kevin. Wymack came by to tutor Dan, Matt, Renee, Allison, Aaron, Nicky, and Andrew. Abby and Bee chatted by the fire. It was almost strange to have so many people bustling about here after this cave had securley been no ones but Nicky, Aaron, and Andrew’s. Andrew supposed the change wasn’t all that bad. In the tunnels, sound was swallowed by the walls instead of echoed (pockets of water were everywhere, that was why- so claimed Aaron) and it was unlikely to run into anyone you weren’t looking for. Everyone but Bee, Abby, and Wymack lived here, now.  
When it came time for sleep, Wymack, Abby, and Bee walked down the mountain together. Dan and Matt were cuddling by the fire while Allison and Renee were holding hands and talking. Kevin was trying to puzzle out a piece of complicated navy maneuvers from a century ago while Aaron possible took notes on medicinal herbs or wrote a love poem to Katelyn. Neil was tucked into his side, their hands lightly pressed together but not holding on.  
Andrew leaned slightly to place a kiss in the soft red curls he had only gotten a few glimpses of. Seeing Neil… that was always tricky. No blindfolds on him, just him keeping his eyes closed. Andrew never dared to look at his face, no matter how tightly Neil claimed he was holding his eyes shut. It wouldn’t be worth it to have a statue of a naked Neil if he died. You’re getting sappy, idiot. However, Andrew had seen every scar below his face, had gotten all of their stories. And then promptly put the blindfold on again before he touched Neil any firmer.  
Thinking back to their conversation this morning, Andrew could almost feel that kindle of want again. To be able to see Renee and Bee. To watch Aaron and Katelyn to make sure he really was in love with her. To-  
But it would never happen. Athena had given him a measure of protection unparalleled in this world. He would strip it away if he could, but he can’t.  
“Neil, tell us a story,” Matt called out from across the fire, his head in Dan’s lap.  
Neil went to sit up a little so Andrew loosened his arms, only to tighten them again when Neil slunk back down, yawning loudly.  
“Sorry, Matt. I’m tired. Maybe tomorrow,” Neil said, curling closer to Andrew.  
Matt frowned at that, but he understood. Neil spent a decent portion of his days running up and down the mountain, carrying things and delivering messages. He made communication between the villagers much easier and was considering becoming a messenger.  
“Just like Hermes,” Neil said, smiling up at Andrew.  
“Too short for Hermes,” Kevin said from across the room, pouring over some papers.  
The freedom to run and gather stories was what interested Neil. He didn’t really want to leave Andrew, and the others, though. He also loved hearing Andrew tell stories too much, as his were always older and from far away places. Andrew had yet to tell him that he made up most of his stories for Neil.  
As more sleepy yawns made their rounds around the fire, everyone drifted off to go to sleep. Andrew and Neil made themselves scarce after Matt and Dan went to bed, so they made their way to their shared room closer to the peak of the mountain.  
When they laid down to sleep, Andrew with his back to the wall, blindfold secure, Neil curled next to him, probably staring at his face.  
“Andrew… “ Andrew could tell he was about to learn whatever it was he and Bee had talked about earlier. “I’m going on a trip tomorrow. With Bee. I should be back by the end of the week, if not sooner.”  
Andrew was silent for a moment. He wished to see Neil’s face so he could gauge his reaction. Is he worrying his lip between his teeth? Is he trying to be evasive? “Why?”  
“I’m looking into something. I want to try to talk to Athena. See how to lift what you have been given. If you say no, it’s no. But you said yes this morning so I have to try.”  
Silence again. “It’s not going to work.”  
“Is that a no?”  
“I already told you, it’s a yes,” But Andrew didn’t give in to any hope.  
They went to sleep. If Andrew was worried about Neil getting hurt, or running, or being found by… someone, he didn’t show it.  
And so the week passed uneventfully, with Andrew ignoring the intermittent periods of panic when he couldn’t hear Neil, until the last day Neil was expected back, something miraculous happened.


	2. To Give a Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil and Bee walk, Andrew finds some cool stuff, Allison is not wearing clothes.

Neil left with Bee early the next morning. Bee was adamant about neatly packing for the full weeks trip, adding to their packs until they were almost bursting, but Neil silently slipped some of the unnecessary materials out and started down the mountain after pecking Andrew on the lips and promising his return.

He had also slipped away to find Renee briefly. Upon their first meeting, Neil had been incredibly wary of her, though at the time he hadn’t known why. She had seemed… dangerous, in an inexplicable way, as all she had been doing was handing out apples to small children with Allison, Dan, and Matt. Eventually, though, her parentage came to light. The scion of Ares, just like Neil. At one point in her life, she had let the talent for anger and brutality to shine through her and make her a deadly assassin for the highest buyers before she struck out into her own wars against the corrupt. While she had turned her back on that vengeful life to settle here, that didn’t mean she couldn’t wield her daggers with the same vicious precision.

Neil wished he didn’t see so much of himself in her, sometimes.

Now he sought her out for a simple reason: protection. He came to a stop outside the bend to her ‘room’, where she had strung an ox hide over the opening to serve as a door. Neil would bet his thumbs that she and Allison were in there.

“Renee?” He called. There was shuffling behind the hide, and a moment later her face appeared.

“Hello, Neil. Are you heading out?” She asked, noting his bag, not bothering to mention the early hour. She had a chiton casually slung over her.

“Yes, I am. And I have a small favor to ask, if you would,” Neil always found it difficult to be impolite to her.

“On one condition, I will do anything,” From anyone else, this would have been unnerving, but Renee wouldn’t ask too much of him.

“What?”

“You have to tell us everything that happens on your trip when you get back,” From behind the flap, Neil heard Allison groan.

“Deal,” That would be easy, as he planned to detail the trip in a story like fashion anyhow. “I need you to watch over Andrew and the others while I’m gone. I usually run the perimeter of the town and mountain every other day- or more. I should be back by the end of the week at the latest, but I don’t want to risk anything, not with my father still leaving bodies behind.”

“Alright.” Renee said, just as Allison peaked her head out. Her hair was tied back and her face freshly washed.

“ _That’s_ what was so important you had to wake us this early! Like the monsters need protection! Neil, you should really bring Andrew hunting and turn your father to stone!” She seemed adamant on this point, though she should know better than anyone why Andrew couldn’t be risked with uncovered eyes; and accept that Neil had to take his father down himself. He just frowned at her.

“Goodbye, girls. Have a nice week,” Neil turned with a small smile their way, and went to leave the tunnels that had been his home for a few years now.

On their way down the mountain, they scuffled around the statue of a man sneering; his feet had been chiseled out and his now incredibly heavy form pushed against the side of the mountain. A little ways down, they did a similar maneuver; a woman this time.

Bee and Neil made their way out of this village to get closer to the next town, and then attempt a ritual sacrifice to the God Athena. Neil needed something to give to her, but he had no clue as to the wants of a God. He had to ask her. He had hoped Bee would have been a fountain of knowledge on this point, but she mostly kept the temple on the edge of the village clean and orderly and prepared rituals; like singing for the dead.

After several hours of tottering along in silence, Neil ever alert and Bee grinning through her huffs of breath, they stopped in a clearing. They had made it 10, maybe 12 miles from the cave to this spot, where Bee claimed Persephone blessed as it resembled the field she had gone to Hades from. Bee opened her pack while guzzling her waterskin, pulling out their preserves while Neil brought out the offerings they had agreed on of apples, figs, olives, and a fresh slab of meat from the butcher. Neil laid them out on a cloth and went to the edge of the clearing to gather wood for a fire.

An hour later, they were well fed and rested, standing in front of a roaring fire reading a scroll Bee said he had to chant from.

“Neil, I want to make sure you understand this; Athena may ask anything of you- anything- and you may not be free to say ‘no’ when it comes to this. Are you sure you want to summon her?” Bee looked at him with kind eyes, truly concerned. Neil looked away.

“I don’t know how much this all affects him, honestly. But I want him to have the choice. Athena… she came right when Poseidon was done with him, she caught him at his most vulnerable. To refuse power like that- a gift, she called it- the only option was ‘yes’. He deserved this choice,” Neil stared into the orange haze as he spoke, breathing in the clean smoke and furrowing his brows.

“This is very brave of you, Neil. His eyes affect every aspect of his life. He used to only see me up in the cave, when Nicky, Kevin, and Aaron were out. No one else was allowed up there. You don’t realize how annoying it is to sarcastically be asked ‘how do I look? I’d try a mirror, but…’ at least once a week for 3 years!” Bee exclaimed, the closest to annoyance Neil had ever seen her. Anger had crossed her face once in the time he knew her, and that was rightly so in the face of Luther, of a faction for Gods from farther East trying to tame our ‘delusional’ worship. “Wymack had faith in you from the beginning, the old Satyr. He was sure you would help, but I don’t think he realized just how much.”

Neil nodded, accepting her words. He didn’t really think he had done much other than not be afraid of Andrew, as well as tearing any of the townspeople to shreds with his words when they shouted ‘monster!’ to him. But that was years ago, and they liked him better now. When he felt he was ready, he glanced at Bee and set the offerings on the flames, watching the tantalizing smoke curl to Olympus, and began to read.

The words sounded muffled and choked to him, and as the sacrifices burned so did his throat, the calming memories of fresh fires and fragile walls collapsing under the smell of charred flesh invading his senses. Each letter began to end with a wheeze, and as he finished the last line he considered stepping behind Bee to clear his nose and rub the water from his eyes. He didn’t get the chance, though, for a searing light appeared and a voice boomed around the field, chasing the bees from the flowers and evicting birds from their nests.

“Who has summoned the Goddess Athena?”

***

            Andrew was making his way down the mountain to attempt listening to a lecture with Kevin and Nicky. Once that was done, he wanted to try to find the shop Neil always got his sweets from and maybe pick up some fruit for the rabbit as well. Andrew assumed Neil would be melancholy after he failed to retrieve Andrew’s sight. Naturally, Andrew felt nothing about it at all.

Andrew stepped on something, rigid yet flexible.

            Here he was on his way, only to find something in the path he knew better than anyone else who came here.

            He reached down cautiously, a knife in his left hand while his right extended to the ground. His fingertips brushed skin, and her jerked his hand back.

            “Who are you? What are you looking for?” Andrew heard no breathing, no scuffling- nothing. No living creature could get past him without making a sound. Was it a monster, then? Another coming up the mountain trying to win the favor of the townspeople by slaughtering the resident, more docile ‘monster’?

            There was no movement, and no reply. Slowly, Andrew put the knife back to its sheath at his wrist, then brought his hands up to the tie of his blindfold. His snakes reached out to his hands, curling around his fingers and stroking his biceps. Usually they liked to tangle in Neil’s hair when their foreheads pressed together. Andrew found it annoying. He assumed Neil enjoyed the proximity.

            He pulled the blindfold free, eyes wide open to the scene before him.

            Something akin to hope and terror unfurled in his chest; he wasn’t sure if it was real or imaginary, this man before him. Perhaps his eyes were conjuring things now, like he thought his senses had made up Neil like some mass hallucination after being deprived of a strangers company for so long. Seth lay prone, eyes to the sky, his fury still chiseled. He had been tempted by Riko; offered goods and protection and a happy life for Allison if he would drag Kevin back to the house he ‘served’. This is what he got when he reached to rip Andrew’s blindfold off in an attempt to distract him. Anything he felt before was replaced with the sharp heat of anger and he stood abruptly, looking farther down the path.

            Another impossible sight. There was a woman laying in the path, stiff from the pain of death but uncurling by the minute. She was dead, her face to the mountain, her legs stuck behind her as though she could have fallen walking up, her chiton billowing in the breeze. Andrew squatted by her, taking in her posture, outfit, and unbraided hair. He knew who this was, but it was impossible. He _knew_ it was.

He put his hands under her and rolled, revealing her features. Yes, it was her. Tilda. Back from her stony imprisonment but still very, very dead; her face still a mask of disgust. Andrew stared at her for a few moments, taking in the sight of Aaron’s mother, dead by his eyes, a curse unto them both.

            Andrew returned his blindfold to its rightful place, heart racing now as he thought. _Neil Neil Neil, what have you done._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope it's not obvious how much of this I'm making up as I go...


	3. Setting the Stage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil speaks to a God. Aaron loves his girl.

            “I, Neil Josten, ask an audience with you, Goddess Athena,” Neil moved in front of Bee, bowing at the waist. Bee was on her knees behind him, in a trance like prayer.

            The Goddess was stunning. Athena towered over Neil and Bee, both her power and her height casting a shadow over the field. Facing her, just to the right of the fire, Athena glimmered like a star against the night, cloaked in the greenery of the forest behind her. Neil did not bother roaming her body for more than a second; he focused on assessing her weaponry out of habit than need. She could strike him down with a strong wind, and he knew it. Still, he noted the shoulder plates of gilded gold adorning her, as well as the spear clutched in a soldier’s familiar hold in her right hand. There as a shield strapped to her left; a plain silver disc that curved slightly. Her flowing chiton could be hiding any number of weapons. Even the pins holding her long brown hair back were sharp enough to maim. Neil settled on her grey eyes.

            “Neil Josten…” Athena focused on him, barely flicking her eyes to Bee where she sat on the ground before returning him. “No. Nathaniel. Son of Nathan and Mary, scion of Ares and Hermes. Yet you do not lie. I see you have a question. Perhaps I shall tell you the answer.”

            _Typical God arrogance,_ Neil thought. _That, or she assumes she knows everything because she’s the goddess of wisdom._

            “Goddess Athena, I have come to ask something of you and hope I may prove of service in some way to repay this kindness.”

            “Speak, Neil,” Athena had all the time in the world, yet she rushed him.

            “You gave a boy a gift once, protection against those who sought to harm him, after what Poseidon did to him in your temple. Those he sought to protect, you bound to him with similar features. I ask you on his behalf to reverse your will; to let him see those around him with his eyes without fear of turning those he trusts to statues,” This was wording he had worked on with Bee; he didn’t slander what Athena had given, did not make demands. Neil was trying to be as patient with Athena as he could be with Andrew.

            “You ask me to strip away my blessing from this man. Do you seek to hurt him as well; are you more your father’s blood? He has sent many to Hades following suffering, but your kills have all been swift, efficient, and smart. Even Lola was done without cruelty. Why him? What are you willing to pay?” Athena’s gaze never faltered, offering any sort of concern for Andrew.

            Neil felt an itch race around his body, the heat of the flame calling his blood. “I have no desire to hurt Andrew, _never_ like he has been before. I am here to _free him_ , to give him a choice in how he is protected, how he protects himself.”

            “A choice? I offered and he accepted. This was a deal tailored to his needs. Was I wrong in what I gave so kindly?”

            The red flames of the fire cast an eerie glow on the once reverent scene.

            “Andrew was vulnerable, and the option you waved in front of him gave him what he needed in that moment: to be a monster, to be something to turn away from, not attract to. He got protection for his family and more. But he is blind. He has hurt. And he is done. I ask you to allow me to protect him in place of the gift,” Neil almost choked on the last word, the taste of smoke drying his throat.

            “My protection is impenetrable, I-”  
            “HE CANNOT SEE!” Neil shouted. “He is surrounded by those who accept him, who know what has happened to him. They had the information thrust on them when he was targeted again _despite_ your gift, and they- we- gave him _choices_ , space- whatever he needed. You dangled salvation in his face, and now, now that he has had _time_ and trusts more than himself,-” Ash filled his mouth and he nearly spit the word ‘please’ at the Goddess, but he would not beg, not when Andrew was involved. It was wrong. “I’m asking you to see how that  _kindness_ affects him now. How a gift can also be a curse.” He swallowed soot and smoke like bitter medicine and waited in silence, never wavering under the foggy grey of Athena’s stare.

            For a horrible moment, Neil wondered if he would survive this encounter. Would Bee tell Andrew he was sorry if he died here? Would he care? He could see Bee telling Andrew how he had yelled at a Goddess and been smited down. It was almost comical.

            Athena held him for a beat. Then another. Athena blinked at him with wide, grey eyes. She certainly mimicked her patron owl. Or perhaps it was the other way around… She spoke.

            “You… You are not your father, nor like Ares. I will do as you ask, and in return you must complete a task. Your father lives, as you know. The death of Riko has made the house he serves more thirsty for your blood, and they wreak havoc on a different sort of battlefield, spilling blood as ruthlessly as Ares, with less cunning than I would muster. Nathan will pick up your scent like a dog to a trail and you will bring the destruction of your family. However, I offer you this. Slay your father. On his death, I will lift my blessing and allow Andrew to see without petrification. And I will return you to him. You and your priest,” Athena squinted her eyes slightly, taking in this tiny man before her. Chancing his success.

            Anxiety rippled through Neil. He felt like he could run for miles, like he _had_ to run for miles, rather than face his father now. He felt Athena’s words to be true, though. He would come for Neil. He would kill anyone he found that opposed him; or really just inconvenienced him. And no one would survive. At least this way, the others would be fine, and Andrew would have a chance. His mouth felt dry when he responded, his tongue melded to his mouth.

            “May I ask one more thing, then? Give me the power to strip the blessing. I want to offer him the choice, one last chance to maintain it. And if I die facing my father, but manage to bring Thanatos to him as well, I ask you renew your offer to him.” Athena nodded.

            “So you accept? You seem willing to walk into combat with a ruthless demon,” Athena seemed puzzled, but she kept a mask on her face. Very similar to how Andrew kept his expression.

            “The stage was already set with me on the edge of a cliff hanging over a rocky bed. The next scene had to have a push- it just happened to be this,” Neil let his words waft like smoke in the air. “Yes, I accept your task to kill my father and release Andrew,” Neil wasn’t sure how formal he was supposed to be here, but he assumed swearing this worked.

            “You have spoken out against me in defense of your… friend. Failure is not in your best interest. I see you are not so like Ares, yes. Hermes perhaps, with swift feet and an overactive tongue. When you face your father, the talents of Ares may save you. You have a week. You will find your father in the next town, where he is asking about a boy who looks just like him, but in miniature, with scarring on his face,” Athana grinned a tiny, feral thing. “Happy hunting.” She vanished with a blinding light, leaving the field just as it was, if calmer. The fire was gone.

            Neil let his tense muscles relax, still staring at the spot Athena vacated. Bee rose beside him and cautiously lifted a hand to his shoulder to steady him. His eyes flicked from the bare patch of land to the outer edge of the forest and the path cutting through it. Tomorrow, they would track his father.

***

            Andrew should have been there a half hour ago. Aaron, Nicky, and Kevin were waiting for him outside the hall to their lecture, due to start in another ten minutes. Katelyn had been holding seats for them while possibly fending off some of the sneering men who liked to attempt arguments with her. Attempt, because she knew the information ten times better and could question circles around them in the strange rhetoric Aaron found boring. Unless, of course, Katelyn was involved. She could be as ruthless with her words as Neil, though she made everything sound sweet _and_ condescending, while Neil was simply vicious.  

            Due to Neil’s… interventions in town, the people no longer called the boys monsters. To their face, anyhow. Any fear they felt still lingered, and Andrew remained as unnaproachable as ever, but no one cursed them on the streets for their snakes or hired wanna be heros to empty the mountains of their presence. Nicky considered it a win so long as he was free to flirt with every man in town while Erik was off trading goods. Aaron thought it was better than living with Tilda, though he would admit that to no one. Kevin probably didn’t notice the difference, other than the lack of people throwing rocks at his head and calling for him to lose the monsters and run back to his Uncle’s estate.

            Aaron kicked at the cobble beneath his sandals and adjusted his chiton. Andrew hadn’t promised his attendance, nor given his word, yet Aaron had foolishly thought he would come. Before Nicky could saunter over to the young man by the fountain across the way, Aaron herded the other boys into the amphitheater and immediately spotted Katelyn arguing with a group of men.

            “Well of _course_ I set the bone, how would-” An angry brunette was starting to back away from whatever fight he started.

            “No no, I don’t mean that you slapped a stick to his arm and tied it there. I’m asking if you _set the bone straight_ , so that perhaps when the poor man removed whatever branch you attacked him with, he might retain some semblance of normal function after the Underworld you dragged him through.” Katelyn tipped her remark off with a smile. Not as eerie as Neil’s, but effective in a similar manner.

            “Hey, he should be _grateful_ -”

            “That you botched his chances of herding his sheep to markets, but now he’s stuck one armed and short handed. This is why most study medicine before practicing it. Enjoy the lecture. Maybe you’ll be able to perform intense battlefield medicine after, since I’m sure you’ll get all the information here, in one sitting!” Katelyn tossed a draping piece of her purple peplos over her shoulder and spread herself over the stair she had claimed.

            “He needs some olive oil to soothe that burn,” Nicky stage whispered to Aaron, entirely pleased with how far sound could carry on the stone steps.

            Aaron sat down next to Katelyn and gave her a grin.

            “That was fantastic. Reminds me of how you hollered at me for helping Abby stitch Neil up that one time,” He joked, but there had been genuine sadness at having disappointed her at the time.

“That was just because you didn’t call me over to help!” Katelyn scooted over a bit to let Kevin and Nicky sit.

“To be fair, there wasn’t exactly anyone free to get you. Half of us were restraining Andrew while the others beat back those guys Neil foolishly insulted,” Kevin added, not looking up from his notes. It was a miracle he was paying attention to them.

“He was defending us!” Nicky proclaimed. “It was endearing, right up until he was pushed down the stairs.”  
            “You’d think those gasbags would have gone with something a little less extreme after dear Dixones took a tumble,” A moment of silence passed for the fallen student.

“Ah, the lecturer's starting,” Kevin put away his old notes in favor of fresh paper.

For a few hours, they sat in rapt attention, listening to the excited rambling of a scholar enlightening them on the basic principles of sword and spear injury as well as strategic military battle. It was clear she lusted for Athena for her marvelous works and was rather put-off by the basic brutality of Ares. Where was the finesse! For a little while, Aaron forgot about how Andrew was supposed to be sitting there, too, quietly smacking Kevin on the back of the head when he corrected the speaker too many times.

The woman finished her last tirade and went to leave immediately, stating there was important business across a wine river and she had to drink it down to get there. Kevin looked like he was about to chase her down to ask about the possible effect of implementing some sort of strategy in a battle a hundred years ago (or ask if there was wine for him as well), but Aaron took over Andrew’s job of herding the family and brought them all outside. The sun was beating down on them today and Aaron knew that within a few minutes of his walk to the base of the mountain he will have sweat through his green chiton.

They bought some figs for their walk and ascended the slopes to their home, where Katelyn would be spending the night seeing as her father was out. Aaron thought that perhaps Andrew had stayed behind in case Neil arrived and he didn’t want to miss him, but he didn’t seem hopeful he would turn up today… Then again, he never had been good at reading Andrew’s small expressions. Sometimes, Aaron noticed Neil check Andrew’s face for a moment, reading the curve of his mouth, and then he would move closer to him and be accepted, or get up to get some sweet thing for him. He was rarely turned away.

Aaron let Nicky take the lead on the path up. Aaron wasn’t bothered by the sight of Seth anymore, seeing as he had betrayed them. Allison had refused to come anywhere near their home for weeks before Renee had calmed her down enough. Eventually, she had accepted what had happened, though she was shocked at Seth’s blatant callousness towards the ‘monsters’, even if she didn’t like them herself. He threw away their future and sold his life for nothing.

Aaron kept his head low enough just to see Nicky’s feet as the walked. The path was only wide enough for one or two, but they were all single file with Aaron sandwiched between Nicky and Kevin with Katelyn holding up the rear, possibly prepared to adjust Kevin’s course if he stared a little to hard at the tiny script in front of him and wandered to the edge.

Aaron hated the sight of Tilda near his home, a scowl ever present on her features, a constant reminder of his failures and beatings. Andrew had promised he would stop her, had claimed time and time again he would only threaten her. Instead, she stood in his way every day just like before, though now there were no shouts and fists to smack him. Just the whipping wind cutting down his ambitions.

Perhaps he was being dramatic. Katelyn had said he might want to try theater.

Abruptly, Aaron walked into Nicky’s back and almost teetered off the side. Just as he was about to curse him to Hades, he spoke.

“Uh, guys? Did someone see rubble at the base, ‘cause there aren’t any startlingly lifelike carvings of our friends or family up here anymore…”

“What do you mean?” Aaron asked, peering around Nicky and up the path. They were almost to the cave entrance, meaning they would have passed Tilda by now and should have been coming up on Seth in a moment. But there were no petrified people there, or behind them. “Uhhh, maybe Andrew was redecorating…” Not that Aaron really thought so, but…

With a few glances tossed around, (Kevin put his notes away- well, still clutched in his hand, but not in his face anymore) they rushed up the rest of the way, calling out Andrew’s name into the cave. Nicky barrelled into the cave, his dark snakes still swirled atop his head in formation, and let out a startled yelp. Aaron came in shortly after, Andrew’s name dying on his lips as he took in his surroundings. Behind him, he sensed the presence of Kevin and Katelyn.

There were three bodies on the ground. Two were laid out flat, side by side, the last squatted next to them, head bent. Andrew reached out, a round gold coin in his hand. He fumbled for a moment on Tilda’s face, waiting until it squished into her eye socket to move it down to her lips and drop it there. Aaron noticed Seth was lying beside her, his tunic just as disheveled as the day he solidified, and gold on his tongue. It felt as though everyone held their breath for a tense moment, even Andrew.

“What’s going on, Andrew?” Fearless as always and undaunted by the odd scene in front of her, Katelyn was the first to speak.

“I went to meet you in town. Found them on my walk down. Quite a surprise, really. Never thought I’d see their fleshy scowls again. I brought them up here. We’ll build a pyre for them, let them have a proper burial. We have to wait for Allison to come back with Renee,” Andrew stood slowly from his place by the bodies as he spoke, as though he had been crouched in that position for quite some time and his knees were unappreciative.

For a second, Aaron felt nothing but a hollow ache inside his chest, where he had kept his mother’s words and fists locked up; the overwhelming hopelessness of a single ship on a rocky shore surrounded by fierce waves compelled him to walk towards his brother.

“How,” The only question that mattered right now. How was it, exactly, that he had to look at his mother’s face again- imagine her scorn so much clearer.

Andrew shrugged, the black sash across his eyes pointed in the direction of Aaron and Nicky.

“I think Neil,” He paused, seemingly unsure. “May have done something on his little trip.”

And then, with unexpected emotion, Andrew grinned. If he hadn’t been so empty, Aaron thought he would have stepped away from him. As it was, their family moved back. This merciless smile wasn’t for them, though. It was for whoever was preventing Neil from returning today- whoever had lifted the petrification. Someone with the power of a God. If Aaron could see Andrew’s eyes, he thought there wouldn’t be any fear, only a single minded mix of fury and determination. If Aaron could see Andrew’s eyes, he would have been _wrong_.

Aaron collected the remains of his emotions and went to stand by Katelyn against the cave wall, facing away from his mother. He settled himself in her eyes, letting gravity pull them together so he could rest his head in her neck.

“Renee said they were-” Andrew cut off mid sentence when a thud sounded from behind him, a knife in his hand and his snakes twisting to the noise with a cacophony of hisses. “Neil?” He called.

Nicky came to his aid, immediately identifying the figure dusting themselves off in the cramped entrance. “It’s Bee.”

Bee stepped in front of the group, smelling of smoke and fig and the faint tinge of blood. She looked at the bodies on the floor without surprise, a prayer running past her lips of its own accord. Her perpetual smile was hanging down on one end, the most concerning event in the past thirty minutes.

Bee brought her hands up as though to cup Andrew’s face, stopping a few inches from the snakes still on the lookout to either side of him.

“Andrew,” Everything felt right when she slipped back into her familiar beam, but Andrew couldn’t see it. “This is only the beginning.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO SORRY that this is taking me so long. But things are starting to come together now I guess and I want to FINISH THIS!
> 
>  
> 
> Also it is going to be SO MUCH LONGER than I originally planned. I was like, 2k words, max. Now here we are. Not at 2k. 
> 
> Come talk to me about stuff!  
> Tumblr? [Tumblr](https://pyreof-books.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Questions? Concerns? Compliments? Criticism? Echo less laughter in an empty dark room? Leave it down below!


	4. Thudding Hearts, Running Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a lot of running. Also, RENNISON!!!

            When Lola approached, she came in and out of focus like a flame. Flickering from one spot to the next, she crouched and turned with the precision of an actor taking their cue, well rehearsed steps laying out before them. Her slim cut tunic melded with her surroundings making the fleeing pair feel trapped from all sides. The moves she made were impressive; it was reflex guiding her, no foreknowledge of the knives whizzing by her sides. Her dark hair was pulled away from her face to reveal a too sharp smile and eyes of black coal. She stalked them, leaving no breath to pray (or curse) the Gods.

            No matter how many steps Neil took, Mary was always a few feet ahead- just out of arm’s reach. Lola could have been thirty paces or three feet behind him; the goosebumps would remain. His name was being called from somewhere. Sweat ran down his spine and the back of his neck was prickling. He could save them, he knew it. Just turn and throw, just turn and throw, just _turn and-_ the knife that jutted out of his mother’s back made her fall to her knees with a sickening thud.

            A heartbeat. A shallow breath. _Just turn and throw._

            “Abram, RUN!” The glazed eyes of his mother shined at him as he knelt in front of her. She was gasping, holding her chest like she thought the knife point was just under the surface. Run where? Into the sea? A wild bark of a laugh escaped him. _Just turn and throw._ Neil went to put his arms around her, his hand numbly fumbling on the hilt of the knife, her hair whipping his face like sharp grass. Sand sat like grit behind his ears, caking to his arms. He heard his name again, louder, thunder in his ears.  Neil felt blood soaking his knees, his hands, his face. He was choking on it-

            Neil sat up gasping, cool air throwing his sweat soaked tunic against his skin. Bee was above him where he lay and there was a warm, gentle hand clamped on the back of his neck. She wasn’t looking at him but the knife clutched in his hand mere inches from her face. Mary is dead, Neil is alive. Mary is dead, Neil is alive. Mary is dead, Neil is alive _. Nathan is, too._

            His breath was ratcheting out of his chest. Neil moved his stiff hand to his lap, maintaining a white knuckled grip on his weapon. He shook his head, getting quick glimpses of his surroundings. The trees, the clearing beyond, a still smoldering fire pit. He clenched his free fist, forcing his head back into the hand holding him. It gave with no resistance, cradling him. He was not home. _Just turn and throw, Abram._

            He jumped and twisted, throwing Bee off to the side and tangling his legs in a blanket. The abrupt leap left him on the ground, thrashing his legs until he was free. Neil got to his feet and sprinted away. _Lola is coming._

            Neil leapt over rocks and trees and small moving things. His bare feet pounded against the vulnerable earth as he chased the sun through the canopy of trees. _Lola is coming_.

            Water splashed on his calves, riverstone smooth and cold. _Lola is coming._

            Light ahead. A gap in the trees. Neil stumbled, gasping, into waist high grass.

_She’s here._

            Neil rocked back on his heels, using his momentum to turn to where he came from. He saw a flash of red and blue and froze, solid as a block of ice. _Father, please no lessons today._ He saw the glint of silver.

            Neil held still, waiting, his heart pounding like the drum Bee beats on at the temple. Red, red, red- where was it?

Neil almost threw his knife directly into the face of the fox that bounded to a stop in front of him. Red, black, and white fur, blue eyes. It stared at him for a moment, appraising the ragged boy in front of it, who calmed himself, seemed less threatening. There was no way these small, soft paws could have made the thunderous tamp of Lola’s chase, or his father’s shining boots thudding. He put the knife down and let himself fall from his crouch onto his butt. The fox elegantly swished its tail and sat on its haunches. They sat there, staring, the foxes eyes clear and blue, Neil’s fogged and icey.

_Lola is dead. You killed her._

He thought perhaps it would move closer, maybe let him slide his scarred fingers through its fur. It didn’t move. Neil stayed where he was.

The clearing was quietly loud in the way all silent places were. Birds chirped, air whooshed. Somewhere up a tree a squirrel farted. No one was calling his name from beyond the panicked veil of sleep. Except maybe his mother, who was floating in eternal slumber near some far away coast.

Neil caught his breath, still splayed where he sat for the fox. His would be attacker seemed to be puffing slightly, too. It approached Neil slowly, its orange body highlighted by the new morning dawn. It was almost uncomfortable dewey in the grass.

Lola was dead, and Neil killed her. Stripped her blood from her veins with the same technique she had shown him years ago, two cuts along the insides of both thighs. His hands weren’t bound, now. There was no sack on his head blocking out the few and faint light sources. No knife to hold his cheek against a hot coal of a dying fire. Lola wasn’t biding her time between hacking his face and threatening his mountain home while she let her knives slip from their sheathes. To Neil, it was a messy, gruesome death. Athena had said it was not cruel, how he dealt with her, but that may have been in regards to what he had suffered at her hands. Her brother’s killing was almost a mercy, Athena would say. Swift blows to the back of he head. Neil knew how awful it was, though, to be hurt with your back turned when you didn’t expect to look over your shoulder.

Each passing moment made his chest lighter. He wasn’t lost in his memories anymore, where Lola chased or caught or died, where his mother was tipping over a cliff with the gaping, bloody knife wound bared to the world. Phobetor had ensnared his mind again is all. Neil was sitting on drying grass, his knife abandoned in favor of tentatively petting the fox, the sun glazing their bodies. He knew he just woke a few hours ago, but he wanted to sleep. To curl up with his new companion and let the exhaustion bleed instead of steep.

However, Neil was a runner, and he had a trial ahead. As he stood, he let the fox slip through his fingers. It blinked up at him, offering no expression, and watched as Neil picked up his knife and began to back away towards where they had come from. Back to Bee, the field, and his task. The fox- Neil felt tempted to give it a name, to refer to it by something more familiar, but its wild innocence was not his to take- it swished its tail from head to paw and slid into a grassy cover. For a shattering moment, Neil thought of Andrew’s mocking two fingered salute. He turned and ran into the woods, vaguely tracing where he shattered a path earlier.

Getting back to the site was harder for him. He was on an empty stomach and had yet to have water that day. He stopped by a stream to drink, also taking a moment to cool down and wash. There were berries along his way that he harvested, popping into his mouth as he ran. He should rest, but he had wasted so much time already. By the time he returned to where his bed roll had been, it was late afternoon and Bee was speaking into the smoking, curling flames with her eyes closed. They snapped open as Neil approached, though he made no sound.

“Sorry,” Neil didn’t look away from her as he said it, dropping down next to her and the fire. And the food. “I’m ready to go on, now. I’m fine.”

He mentally checked himself for the addition, but at least this time he hadn’t lead with fine.

For a moment, Neil thought he had ruined things. That he would have to make this trip alone, and that Bee would go get Andrew and tell him to stop this. That she didn’t think he could handle killing his father on a God’s errand if a dream sent him into the woods for a day.

“Good,” Was all Bee said, her lips quirked confidently, like she was sharing the secret to his success with that one word. Remarkably, he felt more reassured.

            As they ate the meat stew Bee concocted, they devised a plan. Tomorrow, they would get to the outskirts of the town and listen in on any gossip about Neil’s father and acquire some weapons. Both Neil and Bee had overlooked the option of murder on their adventure, so they would need to restock in more…. pointy previsions. Neil would lure his father in with some well placed rumors to a previously scouted area, and then he would kill him. Bee would remain far, far away at this time to ensure she didn’t get hurt; something she wasn’t happy about, but understood all the same.

            Neil assumed his father would be traveling with some of his henchmen, DiMaccio for certain. Knives, a sword if he could get it, and surprise would be his weapons. He promised Andrew a return. He told Renee he would relay his trip to her in exchange for protection. There were reasons to do more than survive, here. He had to obliterate them, he had to succeed.

            When Neil lay down on his bed roll to sleep that night, the faint embers of the fire blowing charred smoke into his face and Bee sleeping soundly on the other side, he thought of the fox. It hadn’t tried to creep up on him; the opposite, really. Neil had thought it was a large, terrifying figure coming to murder him- what with the banging through the woods coupled with his rampant imagination. That fear had made him more vulnerable.

Sleep tugged at the edges of his thoughts, his legs leaden under the blanket loosely thrown over it. There wasn’t a God around to save him from his nightmares tonight, or Andrew to anchor him, but he fell asleep anyway. Perhaps Hypnos had called him.

***

“Renee, I know Neil said he ran the perimeter at least every other day, but this- this is ridiculous,” Allison panted as she ran slightly to the right of Renee, her blonde hair slapping against her sweaty skin and loose skirt rucking up at the ankle with each heavy footfall.

Renee slowed to a jog in front of her and turned to face Allison- while moving backwards. “I know honey, but I promised Neil. And you want to know why he’s going on this week long trip with Bee too, don’t you?”

“I mean, yeah. He wouldn’t come within ten feet of a priest when he got here and he maybe shortened his range to five in the time he’s spent with us and now he’s going on a trip with her? If he has a heart to heart with Bee before the end of the year, I’ll lose a bet!”

Renee slows a little to toss her head and laugh, not quite giving up the jog but turning around with the movement. Allison has to stop just to watch as the sunlight drips off her pale hair, taking in the harsh laughter bursting through her gasping breath. She shakes her head and trots along her again, hoping Renee would show off and run backwards just to have her eyes on her again.

“Andrew didn’t partake in that bet, did he? I’m not sure if I remember,” Renee asked, after huffing through the last round of giggles.

It was during this time, in their frolik of the border, that a figure sat waiting in the treeline. As the two women passed, he stumbled around the wood line out of the light, his rich purple tunic tattered and blood stained, a loose piece of his attire tossed around his head. He kept low to the ground, with silent haste making his way to the base of the mountain. As he made his way, the sun caught on the glinting edge of a dagger.

Allison was more concerned with the sparkle in Renee’s eye and missed the creeping man. Renee, focused on the task at hand, stopped abruptly to peer out at the foliage. There was no movement, no swaying leaves or bush branches. Allison, grateful for the moment of rest, huffed with her hands raised to strike and scanned the area as well.

“You know, Andrew didn’t join the pool on this one. It’s that one and when Neil’s father makes another go of it that he hasn’t taken part in,” Allison relaxed her pose in favor of swiping the sweaty strands of hair off the back of her neck.

Renee stopped her search as well and went stood in front of the taller blonde. The combined heat of their bodies in the small patch of shade they stood in made an odd combination of hot and cool, but neither moved. Renee rested her arms on Allison’s shoulders, smiling up at her panting figure. Allison’s hands rested losely on her hips.

“Oh, I didn’t know that,” Renee smiled sweetly at her. Allison raised one eyebrow.

“No, huh? Are we stopping for a break now, my star?” She brought her head down a bit more and tightened her grip on Renee’s hips. “Asteria may bring you to the calling skies.”

With a muffled ‘hmmm’ Renee tugged Allison to her level and brought their lips together, kissing her soundly and pulling their bodies flush to one another. Allison hummed low in her throat, and if she had been surprised by Renee’s boldness it was swallowed along with her tongue. They let their hands roam their sweaty skin, pawing at the fabric of their loose running clothes. Allison’s long fingers found their way into several knife sheaths accidentally and had to backtrack to the smooth warm skin around them.

Renee pulled back first, and though the miles they had ran barely altered her breathing, it was now as though she had gone twelve rounds against Andrew. And unless the vague bruises on her neck counted, she was far less scathed than those activities usually rendered.

“We should head back now,” Renee still focused on Allison’s lips, and inclined her head up towards the mountain, where their room was.

Allison was quick to nod in agreement and they both began to sprint home with renewed vigor. In the distance behind them, close to where they had stopped to scan the trees, a purple clad figure stepped into the light.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI! Sorry I've been gone..... Work and school starting and lack of motivation and a hundred other things and all that.
> 
> Tell me if you like this chapter! I need feedback! I'm screwing with the timeline, I'm screwing with mythology, I'm dropping Gods names to make it more greeky cause this could plausibly be the Colorado back woods.... I don't know man. 
> 
> Questions? Concerns? Compliments? A rocket launcher shot directly into my chest cavity? Leave it below!

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to participate in Andreil Week 2018 and I have now joined the party late! But I! Am! Here! For! Andreil!  
> I tried to draw a parallel between the foxes and Greek myths in my head and Medusa was at the front of my brain so here we are! I really hope you like it. :)


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